Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Nominations for upcoming Bornstein class now being accepted

Aiming to develop effective, inspired leadership for the Central Florida Jewish Community, the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando (JFGO) launched the Jerome J. Bornstein Leadership Development Program in 1991.

The program provides participants with in-depth programming on Jewish identity, leadership, and Israel. It was named in honor of Jerome "Jerry" Bornstein (Z"L), a renowned civil rights attorney who had served as president of JFGO and of Temple Israel as well as a founder of Kinneret and the Hebrew Day School (now the Jewish Academy of Orlando). The Jewish National Fund's Shalom Peace Award for outstanding service to humanity was among his many awards.

Bornstein alumni recently held a reunion at the home of Mark and Caryn Israel (Bornstein Class of 1998), where they reminisced about the program while tapping into one another's experiences for insights on current opportunities and challenges.

"Bornstein [through its 2006 incarnation, Limudim] gave me a real sense of my potential as a leader," said alumnus Michael Soll, vice president and Immediate past chairman of the JFGO Board of Directors. "But more than that, the program helped solidify for me the importance of using that leadership potential to benefit what matters to me personally-sustaining and enhancing the Jewish community in which I live and where my wife and I chose to raise our family." 

The Bornstein Program is currently accepting nominations for the 2015-2016 class. Its modules offer deep dives into topics such as assessing and maximizing leadership style; effective board, meeting, and volunteer management; specific challenges and opportunities related to the Jewish community, both locally and nationally; engagement around Israel; and defining one's Jewishness to better understand and appreciate a chosen path to serving the community.

Shown here (l-r): Daniel Wise, Pat Bornstein and David Bornstein.

After graduating from the program, participants serve one-year board internships at local Jewish agencies and synagogues of their choice. Bornstein alumni have gone on to serve on boards and as presidents and executive directors of Central Florida's Jewish agencies and synagogues. 

"Service to the Jewish community meant a lot to my uncle, Jerry Bornstein," said Roz Fuchs Schwartz, former chairwoman of the Bornstein Program. "Seeing the development of a new generation of Jewish leaders in Central Florida under a banner bearing his name is a meaningful tribute to his memory."

Do you know someone who would make an ideal candidate for the Jerome J. Bornstein Leadership Development Program? Please contact Marli Porth at mporth@jfgo.org or (407) 645-5933 (ext 233), or fill out an online nomination form at www.jfgo.org/bornstein.